No Lead On Robbery Yet

BELURU: The police have yet to establish any lead in their investigation on the RM1.3 million robbery in Baram on Tuesday but they have detained four employees of the company to facilitate their investigations.

The four, three Indian nationals and a local from Mukah, had said they were robbed of RM1.35 million at KM 8 Beluru-Lapok Road at about 3.10pm on Tuesday, and they lodged a report at Beluru police station about two hours later.

They were later detained at 9.30pm at the station and sent to Miri Central Police Station to be detained overnight.

Yesterday morning, they were sent to Marudi to be produced in court where they were ordered to be remanded for four days to facilitate investigations.

Baram OCPD DSP Abu Bakar Mokhtar, when contacted by The Borneo Post yesterday, confirmed that the four would be remanded until all of them had given their statements.

When asked whether they already had leads on the incident, Abu Bakar said: “We are still in the early process of investigating and definitely will be looking into all angles. At the moment, we are yet to have any clue,” he said.

He added that several police officers from Bukit Aman would come to help them investigate and track down the robbers who were still at large.

“In the meantime, we will gather detailed information, including a check on the victims’ mobile phones to know who they got in touch with before the incident.

“Apart from that, we are going to form a special team today (yesterday) to investigate this matter,” he added.

Abu Bakar further explained that it was not the first time that the men had carried a large sum of money to the location.

“Perhaps it was not a lucky day for the four on that day,” he said.

The employee who lodged the report is an Indian national and a consultant of a multi-national oil and gas contractor, while two other Indian nationals are a cook and mechanic. The local is the driver.

It is also understood that the four victims did not seek police escort when carrying the large sum of cash to the location.

On Tuesday, the group of four were on their way to Camp 8 in Tinjar, Baram from Camp 6 in Bintulu with the company’s payroll when a group of about seven masked men hit and overtook their blue Toyota Hilux and took away the money.

The robbers in a silver Mitsubishi Triton 4WD vehicle alighted from their vehicle and pointed two shotguns at them, forcing them to let go the cash.

They were, however, left unhurt.

*Source from The Borneo Post : http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/11/08/no-lead-on-robbery-yet/#ixzz2BbDvVtRP

Twin Otter Lands In Marudi Ditch

MARUDI: A DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft of MASwings landed in a ditch in a mishap at Marudi airport in the first incident of this ageing aircraft of the Rural Air Service operator

The incident occurred at about 2.19pm after the aircraft on flight MH 3562 from Miri touched down at the runway of the Marudi airport at about 2.33pm as the aircraft veered to the left side of the runway, tearing down the airport fencing and ending up in a ditch in fine weather.

Its left wing was touching the road to Kampung Padang Kerbau, after the rammed the wire fencing and coming to a halt with half the length of the aircraft in the ditch.

Baram OCPD Abu Bakar Moktar told the press that the 19-passenger aircraft was flying 17 passengers who escaped injury except for one female passenger who suffered minor leg injury.

The injured passenger received outpatient treatment at Marudi hospital, a stone-throw away from the airport.

He said Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) would investigate the actual cause of the incident although police preliminary investigation did not rule out technical problems as a possibility of the mishap.

DSP Bakar said this is the first aviation mishap involving a Twin Otter at Marudi airport in recent memory, and it was fortunate that there were no untoward incident in this.

The passengers hurriedly left the scene for the airport terminal at the other end of the runway while firefighters rushed to the scene to spray anti-inflammable powder on the aircraft as a precautionary measure.

Bakar said this is the first ever case involving an aircraft skidding in Marudi.

Meanwhile, a 49-year old school teacher, Hajijah Dollah, one of the passengers aboard, said she was the first to escape through the rear door which she opened after the aircraft came to a halt.

Traumatised by the incident, she was unable to re-collect much of what actually happened leading to the mishap.

Meanwhile, members of the public, including civil servants rushed to the scene for a closer look.

In Sept 2008, a similar aircraft of MASwings slammed into an empty farmhouse in Buduk Nur in Ba Kelalan highlands in a lucky escape for the 14 passengers and two pilots.

The aircraft landed in the paddy fields, narrowly missing the terminal building and other buildings along the runway.

The pilot was reported to suffer minor injuries while the rest were shaken up in this miraculous escape in that incident. Among the passengers were former SIB preacher and father to the late Dato Dr Judson Sakai Tagal and former Bukit Mas member of parliament Mutang Tagal, a SIB Australian preacher, Bruneian nationals and local Lun Bawangs.

Meanwhile, a press statement yesterday issued by Corporate Communications Department of MASwings said the Twin Otter veered off the runway upon landing in Marudi airport at around 1430 hours today.

There were no casualties and all 17 passengers and two operating crew of the flight disembarked safely.

Whilst the Marudi airport runway is still open for flight operations, MASwings has despatched an investigation team from Miri to Marudi for recovery and rescue action.

The airline said it will extend its full co-operation to the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation investigating the incident.

“MASwings assures customers that this is an isolated incident and safe flight operations continue to remain a high priority in the company at all times,” the statement added.

*Source from The Borneo Post : http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/11/08/a-maswings-twin-otter-is-believed-to-have-met-an-accident-at-marudi-airport-today/#ixzz2Bb0NOl5D

Off To A Less Stressful Start

MIRI: The registration of recipients for the second round of Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) in northern Sarawak has gotten off to a very smooth start.

There was no chaotic rush or disorderliness like during the first round last January.

Checks in Miri division and Baram yesterday showed that the applications were made and processed in a calm and composed manner.

The applicants were patient and very cooperative when getting the process done at the various government offices and also at the offices of the political parties.

Assistant Communications Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin told The Star that it was heartening to note that the entire process had gotten off well.

“Nobody rushed for the application forms or got stuck in long queues at the registration counters. Things were very orderly from day one,” he said.

“In my SUPP branch office in Senadin (Kuala Baram district), only two young men wanted to know how to apply for the BR1M.

“We have received feedback that many young people are applying online and that they already know what to do.Even the first-time applicants are being very patient and orderly.

“Those who already received aid in the first round of the BR1M are no longer rushing because they know their names are on the list of recipients.

“This is a heartening development. This smooth and orderly process will help ease the burden of those who handle the applications and distribution of the BR1M.”

SUPP Information chief Datuk Sebastian Ting said his party members had helped more than 900 people submit their applications yesterday.

“We (SUPP) deployed a team to set up a counter in the city centre and more than a thousand people collected the application forms.

“We will be going to various residential areas and commercial centres daily to help with the registration.

“We are confident that the entire process will be smooth right until the distribution of the vouchers. We have learned from the first round and have avoided the weaknesses,” he said.

A check with the district and sub-districts in Baram also showed that there were no mad rush to get the application forms from the Marudi District Office and Long Lama sub-district office.

A senior official said it was a rather pleasant surprise to see that there were no big crowds at the counters.

He said the officials were awaiting further instruction from the higher authorities as to whether mobile units would be deployed to remote longhouses to register new applicants.

 

*Source from The Star : http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/11/3/sarawak/12267339&sec=sarawak